By Maya Brahmam, Head of the Speaker’s Bureau, External Affairs, World Bank; David Theis, Communications Officer, External Affairs, World Bank and Manish Bapna, Director, Bank Information Center Background material: WorldBank.ppt Watch the video on B-Span Biographies of the Presenters: Maya Brahmam is the Manager a popular briefings program for schools and universities, which reaches over 20,000 students annually, and her unit also participates in a monthly tour program with the International Monetary Fund and the Organization of American States. As part of her work, Ms. Brahmam manages a number of high-profile events hosted by the World Bank, including the Presidential Fellows Lecture Series. In 2004, Ms. Brahmam was appointed the focal point for youth in External Affairs. In this role, she works closely with the Bank’s Children and Youth team on major initiatives, such as the youth consultation for the World Development Report 2007. Ms. Brahmam has spent 20 years working in communications and marketing. Prior to joining the Bank, she worked as a communications manager for the Newspaper Association of America, representing major daily newspapers in the United States, Latin America and Canada. Before that, she was a vice president at an international banking company, where she worked with commercial bank clients in Turkey, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Colombia. David Theis, an American national, returned to the Bank in April 2004 as Press Officer. In this role, Mr. Theis is a spokesperson to economic and financial media, businesses, and non-governmental organizations. Mr. Theis manages media outreach for the World Bank’s U.S. Outreach and Canada teams; designs communications strategies and issue-related campaigns; writes and edits press releases, op-ed pieces, and statements; offers media training to Bank officials; and creates crisis-management talking points for senior staff. Prior to assuming this position, Mr. Theis was a Senior Director of Communications at America Online, Inc., overseeing major product launches; commerce, technology and marketing alliance communications; coordination with Investor Relations and Business Affairs; and management of media relations for AOL executives. Previously, Mr. Theis was at the World Bank from 1990 – 1999, most recently as Chief of the Bank’s News Bureau. Before that, Mr. Theis worked as a media information officer and, in Spring 1996, as press liaison in the Bank’s office in Bosnia. Mr. Theis also worked in the World Bank’s Office of the Publisher and on the Development Education Program, which teaches students in industrial countries about life in the developing world. Mr. Theis is a graduate of Colorado State University. Manish Bapna is BIC’s Executive Director as of July 2003. Prior to this, Mr. Bapna served as a Senior Economist at the World Bank concentrating on people-centered sustainable development. He led multidisciplinary teams overseeing projects and research on natural resources, agriculture, and local institutions in South and East Asia and Latin America. He is the author or co-author of over a dozen reports and other publications during his seven-year tenure at the World Bank. Manish previously consulted with several development NGOs including Seva Mandir (India) and Women's World Banking, and helped establish the Swaraj Foundation - an institute dedicated to promoting new thinking on human learning and empowerment. Prior to this, Manish worked as a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company where he provided management advice in the financial services and technology industries. Manish is a graduate from Harvard University and MIT. |
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